Selling yourself

All right, y’all. How do you want to present yourself as a filmmaker? We-the internet generation of creators—all need to stop lollygagging and brand ourselves. When there’s so much content around that indie films with name actors get released straight to VOD, how are you going to catch the industry’s attention? I have no idea. I’ve been carnival barking the values of gathering an audience without the help of investors or a studio marketing campaign behind you. Make what you want to make by hook or by crook, put it up online, and slowly build an audience that way. Forget trying to get industry attention and enjoy the fact that anyone out there wants to watch what you’re doing. If the number of people who watch you grows, excelsior. The view numbers you have to generate to grab industry attention FAR surpass the view numbers most industry created content pull in (TV anyway), and they have a detailed network of marketing avenues at their disposal. So, it’s a pretty tall order.

Having said all of that, I can’t help but want to constantly reach out to that industry that nurtured my love of visual storytelling. My latest attempt is through highlighting awards and achievements. That’s a measure of distinction, right? Here’s my short, little self-promo video.

A quick look at the kind of stuff I do.

I’ve dug that defocus-title effect ever since I first saw it in the trailer for The Savages—the Phillip Seymour Hoffman one, not the Blake Lively one—back in ’08.